The Planning Commission has pitched for strategic sale in sick public sector undertakings (PSUs) to help them find a partner for revival.
“We have always said let’s have a strategic sale rather than yet another restructuring.... Most of the time these companies say if you help us revive, you will get more money,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said at a Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) function.
“But, if you don’t get strategic sale, why do you think it will revive.... That keeps delaying the decision,” he added.
At present, over 20 state-owned companies, including Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Nagaland Pulp and Paper Company, are chronically sick. Ahluwalia said the PSUs should generate resources internally, as it would help the government increase its spend on welfare activities.